How Will I Know
by esmtz
Summary: Whitney Houston. Two years later Naruto comes home only to find that his team including himself has fallen for Gai's team. Akatsuki is ready to make their move.Pairings:NaruNeji LeeSaku GaiKaka SasuNaru Jealous Sasuke and Neji. 2 endings
1. Coming Home

How Will I Know

How Will I Know

By: esmtz

Naruto POV

It had been at least 2 years since Sasuke left the village and I still always thought that he would just come back to me and say he was sorry and would never leave again but I was wrong. I should have told him how I felt but the only thing that stopped me was that I also had another crush on another guy, Neji Hyuga. I know it's not normal to have feelings for other guys but since when have I ever been 'normal' to anyone. My feelings for Sasuke developed after the whole Zabuza affair and Sasuke saved my life which makes me wonder now if he ever had any feelings for me. For the past two years I was out training with the pervy sage, Jiraya as everyone calls him but I call him pervy sage because he has a thing for looking at girls. Anyway when my second crush started it was immediately when I met Neji. Yeah sometimes he pissed me off but so did Sasuke I swear I have a thing for jerks. I was immediately nervous when I came home as I looked around for any signs of Neji but so far nothing. Jiraya left me to go do a few things when I hear someone call out my name.

"Naruto!"

I look and see Sakura as she smiles and waves at me while running in my direction and then stops in front of me.

"Hey Sakura" I say smiling at her "its been awhile"

"Yes it has did you just get back I've missed you" she says pushing back her hair and I nod.

"Yeah and it looks like nothing has changed" I say looking around.

"Yeah well so far Tsunade says she likes Konoha the way it is" Sakura replies.

"I would hate to see it different" I said and then I looked at her "Sakura have you seen Neji at all today?" I ask blushing a bit.

"Um I think he's with Lee why Naruto?" Sakura got nervous when she said bushy brow's name but I ignored it.

"Uh no reason do you want to go get some ramen with me Sakura since I haven't been here in so long I kinda want to go there first…."

Sakura laughs.

"Because you're hungry"

I blush as my stomach growls and I nod.

"Ok then" she says and we both start walking.

While walking we meet up with Ino and her group as well as Hinata's group. I get the same usual response from Hinata with her becoming nervous for some weird reason. We all go eat ramen and I tell them about all the training I went through as well as listening to what's been going on here.

"Just curious has anyone seen Gai's team?" I ask trying not to use Neji's name in case they got suspicious.

"How should I know they're probably off on a mission" Shikamaru says as he kisses Ino's cheek and she giggles.

"How long have you guys been together?" I ask.

"It's been like a month Shikamaru finally got the courage to ask me out" Ino says smiling.

"Congrats" I say as Shikamaru grins at me and Ino turns to Sakura.

"You should ask Lee out Sakura we all know he still likes you"

I watch as Sakura turns bright red making me choke on my food.

"You like bushy brow?!"

She just nods.

"You know its kind of funny how your team seems to like Neji's team huh Naruto?" Kiba says grinning at me and I turn a dark red.

"Wh-what makes you say that Kiba?"

"Well its obvious isn't it Kakashi is going out with Gai…"

My mouth dropped open in shock.

"WHAT?!"

"You don't believe me see for yourself" Kiba turns around making me look and I see them holding hands grinning at us.

"Kakashi sensei when did you…?!" I ask my eyes wide as I point in their direction.

"Hmm? Naruto you're back it's nice to see you again" Kakashi just smiles ignoring me.

Gai suddenly turns and yells back making me jump.

"Lee, Neji, Tenten look who's back"

Both Sakura and I turn an even darker red as we see Neji and bushy brow show up and they come right up to us.

"Naruto it's been such a long time" Lee says grinning at me "when did you get back?"

I couldn't say anything as I looked at Neji and he looked at me shocked.

"Naruto"


	2. Gaara's Kidnapped

How Will I Know

How Will I Know

By: esmtz

Naruto POV

I think it was just me but I thought I saw a hand wave in front of my face and if it actually did man I didn't pay attention my eyes were completely glued on Neji.

"He just got back like 15 minutes ago Lee" I hear Sakura say and I finally manage to turn my head to look at her who was also completely blushing.

I finally notice that it was Lee's hand that was in front of me as he pulls back grinning at me and then smiles at her.

"I see so everyone decided to come eat here" Lee said.

"Yeah pretty much" Sakura said.

"Hey guys I'm gonna go ahead and head on home im exhausted from the trip" I say as I get up and everyone says goodbye and I leave but as I do I notice that someone was following me as I turn and see Neji who completely gets nervous and I smile "Neji do you want to come hang out with me at my place?"

"Well ok then I don't really have anything to do" he sighs and he walks next to me and we head on to my place.

While walking I kept glancing at Neji blushing like mad still not believing that he was actually gonna come over to my place but then he suddenly turns his head the other direction and I look at him wondering why he did that.

"Neji something wrong?"

It takes a few seconds before he responds.

"No" he looks back at me seriously.

"Well ok…" I shrug as we continue walking but for some reason Neji kept looking in the same direction.

We soon arrive at my empty apartment since I had taken a lot of my stuff from here on my trip. I drop my bag on the bed and sit down and Neji looks around the place.

"So this is where you live Naruto its small"

"Yeah I know but I've been living here since I was small this is where the old man took care of me" I said lying down on my bed still looking at him.

"Really?" Neji says a little surprised looking at me making me blush.

"Um yeah" I avert my eyes and I see the picture of my group on the table and I get up and I go look at it.

Neji walks over to me and looks at it.

"It's your team with Uchiha still here" for some reason Neji sounded jealous when he said that and I smiled sadly.

"Yeah I still miss him though I am gonna find a way to bring him back" I grin as I go to look out the window and I do a double take.

"What is it Naruto?" Neji comes my way and looks out the window and I look at him.

"Oh nothing Neji" I look out the window again and see that the person was gone and I shake my head.

"Well alright then" he looks at me worried.

Either my eyes were deceiving me or I really did see the older of the two brothers, Itachi Uchiha. After I met him a few years ago I knew that I wasn't going to mistake him for Sasuke as well as figuring out that I was the one he was after then and more than likely is still after now. I shake my head as I turn to Neji.

"Hey Neji there's been something I uh wanted to ask you for some time now" I blushed like mad and noticed that he was also turning red.

"What is it Naruto?"

I was just about to get closer to him when suddenly the door burst open and both Sakura and bushy brow showed up both completely white and before Neji or I could ask we were stopped by Sakura.

"It's Gaara he's been kidnapped!" Sakura yells and she grabs mine and Neji's hands and rushes us out of my apartment followed by bushy brow.

"WHAT when did this happen?!" I ask horrified.

"I don't know Tsunade just got the message from the sand village telling her what had just happened" Sakura replies.

"We need to go see her now" bushy brow says and I nod still not believing what had happened.

We arrived at granny Tsunade's place and were immediately informed of the situation. Kankuro apparently chased after the kidnappers but then was taken down and poisoned and we were to immediately go to the sand village.

"We're going too" Gai says as he looks at Kakashi "you guys might need our help"

"This Akatsuki group is definitely not going to be easy to handle Kakashi" Tsunade says with her hands clasped and her head laying on them looking at him.

"Well alright then we'll leave as soon as everyone is ready" Kakashi nods in agreement and he and Gai playfully start flirting with each other making Tsunade pissed.

"NOT NOW YOU TWO!"

"What? You're just jealous because Jiraya happens to flirt with a lot of girls instead of concentrating on you isn't that right?" Gai grins as granny Tsunade turns red.

"Be quiet and get going already!"

We all laugh.

"Granny Tsunade has a thing for pervy sage!" I tease and she glares at me.

"GET GOING!"

"Alright we're leaving sheesh!" I said as both our teams leave the room.

We all meet up 20 minutes later at the gate.

"We're all ready Kakashi you guys took your sweet time!" Gai says as Kakashi, Sakura and I show up.

"Sorry about that Gai I was looking for something" Kakashi says rubbing the back of his head chuckling a little and I roll my eyes.

"Ok then lets move!" Gai says and we all start running.

Narrator POV

No one noticed as Itachi Uchiha and his partner silently followed after them as well as Sasuke Uchiha, who was well aware of what was happening, also followed hoping that he wasn't too late.

"Please let me get there in time!" Sasuke says.


	3. Sasuke And Itachi

How Will I Know

How Will I Know

By: esmtz

Naruto POV

"How long is it going to take us to get to the sand village Kakashi sensei?" Sakura says after a few hours of walking.

"Well at this pace we should get there in about 3 days" Kakashi replies.

"This is no good we should triple our speed time come on Lee!" Gai says as he speeds up and I sweat drop as bushy brow also runs off.

"Don't they ever get tired of this?" I ask Neji and he sighs.

"No they don't"

"If they keep this up they'll be so tired when we get there that they'll be of no help to us" Tenten sighs walking next to Sakura.

"Yeah well at least they're training" I said.

"But do they have to train like this?" Tenten replies.

"You know how they are Tenten I seriously doubt they're going to stop anytime soon" Neji says.

"Kakashi sensei it's getting kind of late do you think maybe we should start looking for a place to rest?" Sakura asks looking at him.

"Well I guess we should but it looks like we might have to catch up with Gai and Lee before we can" Kakashi sighs.

"How do you put up with Gai anyway?" Tenten asks.

"You just have to get used to him" Kakashi says and I nod.

"So how long have they been together Neji?" I ask him.

"I think its been about 4 months" he replies looking at me.

"It has been 4 months" Gai says suddenly appearing in front of us making all of us jump.

"How did you get back here so fast?!" I asked.

"You guys are too slow" Lee says also appearing.

"Sorry Lee we were just thinking about finding a place to rest" Sakura blushes "um is that alright with you?"

"Of course it is Sakura" bushy brow grins "Gai sensei lets go find a place to rest!"

They take off again and I sigh shaking my head.

"Do you guys ever get tired of this?" I ask both Neji and Tenten and they nod.

"All the time"

After another hour we finally find a spot and have already unpacked our sleeping bags. I layed mine next to Neji's and to no surprise Sakura's was next to Lee's and Kakashi's next to Gai's. We all got in as Gai quickly lit a fire and said that he was going to be the first watch and we all nodded and quickly fell asleep. As I slept I suddenly felt someone shaking me.

"Naruto wake up dammit!"

"Mmm 5 more minutes….." I turn over in my bag.

"No now! Get up!"

I felt myself being pulled out and I right away woke up.

"Leave me….Sasuke?!" I turned and saw without a doubt the guy I had been searching for Sasuke Uchiha the guy I had my first crush on and apparently still do as I felt my face heat up "what are…"

Sasuke woke up the others and as they did they also stared in shock.

"Sasuke what are you doing here?!" Sakura asked

"Long story I'll tell you guys later now come on get up!" he finishes yanking Neji out of bed and both Neji and bushy brow growl at him for some unknown reason.

"Sasuke could you please tell us why…?!" I was cut off by Sasuke.

"My brother Itachi is here and is after Naruto I assume you guys found out about Gaara well another one like him and Naruto was just caught last night I think his name was Sora but anyway we need to get Naruto out of here" Sasuke says as he grabs my hand but Neji steps in the way.

"I believe Naruto can run without you holding his hand" Neji says crossing his arms and I blush.

"Get out of the way Neji we don't have time to argue" Sasuke says angrily.

"I know we don't Uchiha just let go of him that way he can at least defend himself" both Sasuke and Neji growl at each other.

Lee sighs and mumbles something to himself but I ignore it as I look from Sasuke to Neji.

"Sasuke are you sure Itachi is really nearby?" Kakashi asks as I turn my head to see him scanning the area with his sharingan.

"Yes I am sure he's here!" Sasuke growls dangerously as he readies his sharingan "just to let you guys know he's stronger than before a lot stronger"

I start sweat dropping looking around carefully.

"Let's hurry up and go then before he does show up" Neji says having his byakugan out as well still glaring at Sasuke.

"Heh I was about to say that myself" Sasuke says grinning at Neji and I sigh.

"Lets go you guys" Kakashi says and we all quickly start running as Sasuke is forced to let go of my hand.

"Well at this speed we should get to the sand village in just a day instead of 2" Gai says grinning.

"Alright!" bushy brow says and Sakura blushes.

After what seemed like a few hours it still seemed to me like we were going nowhere and Sasuke and everyone else stopped.

"Itachi is here we've been going around in circles" Sasuke says looking around.

"Well you were right Sasuke" Sakura says.

"Be careful everyone" Kakashi says.

We all nod as we wait to see if anything happens. Suddenly everything started turning into a mist and I could hardly see anything in front of me.

"What's going on?!" I said.

"Looks like he's making his move now" Neji says.

Suddenly a figure shows up but I still couldn't tell if it really was Itachi or his partner.

"Hello little brother" it says.

"Itachi" Sasuke growls.


	4. Naruto's Kidnapped

How Will I Know

How Will I Know

By: esmtz

Naruto POV

Everything was really blurry but I could still make out the two figures that were in front of me, Itachi Uchiha and his partner Kisame.

"Well well looks like I get to fight you again" Kisame says "let me guess you forgot all about me again well let me refreshen your memory!"

What looks like a big sword is lifted upwards and Kisame runs toward whoever he was aiming for.

"Gai look out!" I hear Kakashi yell and then I start hearing noises as if someone was fending off the attacks.

"Don't worry my team's got this one, Kakashi you and your team take care of Itachi" I hear Gai say.

"Got it….Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura lets go!" Kakashi says.

From the corner of my eye I saw two figures quickly making their way to Itachi and I now was really confused on who was who.

"Great how are we supposed to figure out which one is Sasuke's brother?" Sakura says next to me.

"Don't worry Sakura we'll figure something out" I said but I started sweating a little.

"Naruto the one on the right is Itachi!" I hear Neji say and I nod.

"Stay here Sakura!"

I quickly make our way over there and making sure it was him I throw a few of my shuriken at him and as the figure turns and blocks them I see that it was Itachi. Suddenly he was blasted by an attack but then vanishes.

"Aw man where did he go?!" Sasuke says.

"Even with my sharingan I can't exactly pinpoint him out" Kakashi says as I see his figure looking around.

"But your attack managed to hit him!" I said as I looked at the spot but I still didn't see anything.

"Actually it didn't" Sasuke replied "I know how my brother is he isn't easy to take down at all even to get him directly with a powerful attack would take some serious skill that even we don't have"

"You mean no one here not even Kakashi sensei?!" I said shocked.

"Not even me Naruto" Kakashi replied.

"LOOK OUT!" I heard Neji yell as Sasuke, Kakashi and I turn around and see that Itachi was already making his move.

"Don't look at his eyes!" Kakashi warns us as I look down.

"Ok but how are we supposed to…." I was interrupted as I was knocked off my feet and sent flying as I hit what felt like a tree.

"NARUTO!" Sasuke and Neji yelled.

I get back up.

"Ok that's it shadow clone jutsu!" I make the hand signs and out comes 9 more of me. As the rest go fight I keep one with me as I prepare to do my rasengan.

"Ok guys now we got him!" the other me says as he and the rest of me's keep Itachi from moving.

I start running forward as well as Kakashi and Sasuke.

"Rasengan! Chidori! Lightning Blade!"

Just as we get there however our attacks were demolished.

"What just happened?!" I asked horrified.

"I think somehow he managed to stop our attacks but how I don't know" Kakashi responds.

"GAI SENSEI!" I hear bushy brow yell as well as noticing the mist getting thicker.

"What's going on?!" I yell but I get no answer from anyone as I run around looking for any of the others but mostly Neji and Sasuke.

"Guys this isn't funny answer me!" I yell but still nothing "what is going on?" I said to myself.

I keep looking around until I finally spot a figure and I run towards it and I notice that it was Sasuke.

"Sasuke didn't you hear me? What's happening why can't I find anyone else?"

He turns around and I immediately notice that he looked exactly as he did before he left as well as having that mark all over his body.

"Sasuke…?"

"You couldn't save me Naruto and now look what I'm turning into" I watch in horror as he slowly turns into what he looked like when I fought him the last time I saw him "what made you think that you could save me? You want to know what I think? I think you don't deserve to be hokage I think that you'd be better off dead"

I started tearing up.

"Sasuke I'm so sorry I really tried I…."

"You didn't try at all Naruto if you had I wouldn't be like this and I wouldn't have left!" he says growling as he grabs me around my neck and starts choking me as he lifts me off the ground "face it Naruto you know you can't save anybody and you being around at all is putting not only your so called friends in danger but the entire village" he squeezes really hard and I try gasping for air "I think I should just kill you now but what fun would that be?" he grins evilly as tears started falling down my face.

"Sasu…ke" I barely managed to say.

Narrator POV

The mist slowly started clearing up and everyone was on the ground.

"Where is Itachi and Kisame?!" Sakura yells making everyone look around.

"I don't know I think they're gone…." Tenten says.

Neji and Sasuke both look around frantically and they both turn white as they find that Naruto was also gone.

"Where's Naruto?!" Both of them yelled.

"Up here with us" Kisame says making everyone look up as they find Kisame and Itachi, with Naruto unconscious in his arms, on top of a mountain.

"PUT HIM DOWN ITACHI NOW!" Sasuke screams as everyone starts getting up except for Gai who was knocked out cold.

"I don't think so little brother say your last goodbyes right now"

Itachi and Kisame leave with Naruto and both Sasuke and Neji scream.

"NARUTO!!"


	5. Think Twice And Kiss

How Will I Know

How Will I Know

By: esmtz

Narrator POV

"He was right there with you Uchiha why didn't you watch his back?!" Neji yelled just as they finally reached the sand village.

Sasuke glared angrily at Neji.

"Hey you weren't doing anything Hyuga! You just stood there and watched as my brother managed to somehow get at Naruto! Unlike you I was actually trying to protect him but thanks to the mist I couldn't!"

"Well excuse me for trying to help fight off his partner as well as trying to warn Naruto!" Neji hissed back "What's the matter your sharingan doesn't work in that mist? Even my byakugan can see through that!"

"I seriously doubt that if you were closer to where we were at!"

Both Neji and Sasuke butt heads and Sakura sighs as she and Lee step between them.

"Guys cut it out look it's no ones fault you said it yourself Sasuke that your brother got a lot stronger and not one of us could take him" Sakura says looking from Neji to Sasuke.

"Sakura's right you guys shouldn't blame yourselves though this does mean we will need to train more for us to save him!" Lee grins.

Neji sighs.

"I guess you're right we've got no time to lose"

"Of course not lets just hurry up and find out if anyone here in the village has any leads on where Gaara might have been taken and maybe Naruto will probably be in the same place" Tenten says.

"Whatever" Sasuke replies.

They right away head to Gaara's office, except for Lee and Sakura who had gone to help treat Kankuro's wounds, to find Temari waiting for them. They all take a seat as she tells them what had happened.

"So do you guys have any leads on where they might be?" Kakashi says frowning slightly as he looks in Gai's direction seeing him wince in pain on his chest rewarding an im fine look from Gai.

"I'm sorry to say but so far no we've got jounin tracking down Gaara as we speak the only thing we have is this piece of cloth that Kankuro managed to get from his attacker" Temari says as she hands the piece of cloth over to Kakashi and he takes a look at it.

"It's the same type and color of clothing as Itachi's robes!" Sasuke says looking over at the cloth.

"It looks like it belongs to someone in the Akatsuki group" Gai says.

"Akatsuki group?" Temari says.

"It's a group of people who are after people like Gaara" Kakashi says as he hands it back to Temari.

"So that's why they showed up here and took Gaara…." Temari says as she puts the cloth away.

"They also got to Naruto too just as we were on our way here" Neji says.

"What?!" Temari says shocked.

"Which is why we can't just sit here we need to do something now!" Sasuke says standing up.

"We can't do anything right now Sasuke we first need to find out exactly where they are as well as try to come up with a plan" Kakashi says looking at him and Sasuke growls.

"Well we can't just sit here and wait! We don't have time! Naruto doesn't have time!" Sasuke replies angrily.

Neji suddenly stands up as well.

"Uchiha don't think you're the only one who cares about him….we all do especially me!"

"I know that!" Sasuke glares at Neji as he said that last part.

"Frankly im surprised that you care at all considering the last time he saw you you almost killed him and then left!" Neji says as Sasuke gets even madder.

"Shut up!" Sasuke says turning red with anger.

"What's the matter Uchiha? You're just angry because I have a relationship with Naruto now and you lost your relationship with him" Neji grins.

"Ok that's it!"

Sasuke was about to charge at Neji when Kakashi stopped him.

"That's enough Sasuke just sit down you too Neji"

Both Sasuke and Neji remain standing for a few seconds glaring at each other and then they both sit down.

"Getting angry like this isn't going to help Naruto or Gaara at all" Kakashi says as he too sits down at the same time Gai winces in pain again and Kakashi looks at him "Gai I think you should go get those wounds of yours checked out Sakura should be able to heal you"

Gai didn't have time to respond due to the pain he was in as well as Kakashi helping him out of his chair and they walk out the door.

"Well now what?" Tenten sighs expecting for Neji and Sasuke to go at it again but instead they both just kept quiet.

"Well since you guys just arrived we have a place for you to stay in for now let me show you guys to your rooms" Temari says as Tenten, Neji and Sasuke get up.

They were led out of the building and were sent to the nearest hotel as she told the guys where they were staying and then leading Tenten to where she and Sakura were going to stay in.

"This is unbelievable we shouldn't just sleep here and rest" Neji mumbles as he goes into the room with Sasuke behind him "we better get an answer soon about where they are at" he says as he sits down on one of the two beds.

There was silence between both boys as they just sat there when Sasuke suddenly spoke.

"Don't think that after we save Naruto that im going to leave again" he says glaring at Neji.

"What did you say?!" Neji says growling.

"That's right im not going to run away and im not going to back down Hyuga" Sasuke says as he gets up and gets closer to Neji standing right in front of him showing his sharingan.

"You think you can intimidate me Uchiha because you can't no matter what you say or do I also will not run away or back down" Neji says standing up showing his byakugan "also don't think that just because you came back doesn't mean he still has feelings for you"

"Oh I know that but trust me I know him a lot more than you do I was on his team oh and by the way if he didn't have feelings for me why was he still persistent in trying to find me and bring me back to Konoha" Sasuke smirks as he leaves the room leaving Neji shaking with rage.

Later that night everyone had already gone to bed except for Sakura and Lee who were watching over both Gai and Kankuro.

"I swear both Neji and Sasuke are idiots they should have told Naruto before how they felt about him" Lee says as he was sitting next to Sakura and she nods.

"Yeah well I think by now they both know about the other also liking Naruto so in other words I think they're jealous of each other" Sakura says as she gets up and checks on Kankuro again noticing that he still had a high fever. She gets the washcloth on his head and re wets it and puts it back on his forehead.

"Oh yeah they're completely jealous of each other it was really obvious why they were fighting earlier" Lee says looking at Sakura grinning "makes me wonder who Naruto is going to choose"

Sakura turns and looks at Lee sadly.

"Sakura what's wrong?" Lee asks worriedly.

"It's just….Naruto…"

"Sakura he'll be fine you'll see he's a fighter plus he said he wasn't going to die before becoming hokage" Lee says smiling as he gets up and goes over to Sakura and puts his hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah you're right Lee thank you…." She smiles at him.

"Anytime Sakura" Lee smiles at her as he slowly lowers his head and kisses Sakura as she blushes furiously and gives in to the kiss when suddenly Kakashi shows up making Lee and Sakura quickly move away from each other.

"Kakashi sensei?" Sakura said still blushing.

"We just found out where Gaara was taken come on guys!" Kakashi says.

"What where?!" Gai says suddenly making Lee and Sakura jump.

"When did you wake up?" Sakura asks.

"Just now let's move Lee!" Gai says getting out of bed and following Kakashi.

"Yes sir! Come on Sakura!" Lee says grabbing her hand and quickly rushing out of the room.


	6. Stalled

How Will I Know

How Will I Know

By: esmtz

Narrator POV

Everyone gathered in Gaara's office fully awake now as they found out exactly where Gaara was taken.

"Well let's get going we don't have time to waste!" Sasuke says as the guys who delivered the news groaned from just getting back home.

"Right now? You can't be serious…." They complained.

"You guys its late its already well after midnight I don't think its such a great idea to go right now you guys can just leave in the morning" Temari says shaking her head.

"No I agree with Uchiha we should just get going now besides this way it gives us the advantage to sneak up on the enemy" Neji says making Sasuke glare at him but he ignores it "If the rest of the team doesn't want to then ill go by myself"

"Neji you aren't going alone im going too and obviously so is Sasuke" Lee says as Sasuke was about to say that as well.

"If Lee's going then I am" Sakura says.

Kakashi sighs.

"Well looks like we'll all leave right now"

"Well then let's go!" Gai says rushing out of the room and Kakashi follows behind.

"You guys are crazy but thanks for doing this we really appreciate you helping us" Temari says.

"Hey it's no problem trust me you can count on us" Tenten replies as she, Sakura and Lee leave the room.

Sasuke and Neji glare at each other before also leaving the room and meeting up with the rest of the group. The two guys who had brought the news were also with the others as they were the ones who were going to lead them to the exact location.

"Well looks like everybody's present and accounted for" Kakashi says looking around at everybody and then turns to Gai "don't you go running off Gai just for once stay close to the team" he says as he was holding hands with him.

"Oh please Kakashi you guys are just too slow you really should learn to keep up" Gai laughs.

"Lee you too don't run off like you usually do" Sakura says worriedly kissing his cheek making him blush.

"Ok Sakura I won't"

"You guys sure you don't want to wait till morning?" one of the Jounin said.

"Yes we're sure" Sasuke says seriously.

"Well alright suit yourselves" he sighs as they all start running.

Back at where the Akatsuki clan was at they were already done with Sora and were starting on Naruto.

"How long will this take?" Itachi says "it won't be a surprise if my little brother shows up with his friends"

"the other one (Gaara) will be dealt with later and that one took only a day since he didn't have much in him" one of the Akatsuki said nodding towards Sora "this one (Naruto) however will take at least a few days if we all work on him but like you said before Itachi your brother is likely to show up we will have Sasori and Deidara deal with them when the time comes so for now you two get up here"

Itachi doesn't say anything as he and Kisame go to their places as they start helping to remove the nine tailed fox from Naruto. Back at Kakashi's group it had already been just a few hours before they all needed to take a break from running so fast.

"Ok we'll just have a few minutes break but then we're moving again" Sasuke says still standing.

"Who made you leader?" Neji says as he sits down next to Tenten.

Before Sasuke could respond Sakura interrupted.

"Are you guys sure we're going the right way?" she asks exhausted.

"Yes we are sure trust us we know what we are doing" one of the jounin said "don't worry we'll be there soon"

"Well ok…" Sakura sighs as she lays down on the ground and Lee sits next to her.

"Neji can you see what's ahead of us?" Gai asks him and Neji stands up.

"Byakugan!" Neji yells as he scans the area in front of them "Yeah I think I see something"

"You think or do you know?" Sasuke asks folding his arms impatiently as Neji turns his head and glares at him.

"Boys cut it out" Kakashi says "Well what's it look like?" he asks turning towards Neji.

Neji describes what it looks like from the boulder blocking what looks like an entrance to a cave to as well as a few talismans in the area.

"Looks like they mean to separate us" Neji says as his eyes go back to normal "I can tell from the kind of talismans they used it's a barrier"

"Well then some of us are just going to have to take care of that then" Kakashi says and then turns to one of the two jounin "you can take care of that along with Gai Tenten and Lee"

"Ok then lets move out!" Gai says.

"Yes sir! Will you be ok without me Sakura?" Lee asks her and she nods.

"Yeah I will just please be careful Lee" Sakura responds as they both get to their feet and he nods and races after the others.

"Ok everyone else lets go Neji you lead the way along with our leader" Kakashi says.

"Alright then" Neji shows his byakugan again and they all start running again.

It took longer than was expected as Neji found out that there was a trap ahead of them and had said that they had no other choice but to go around which took half a day before they managed to find where they needed to be.

"Ok guys ready?" Kakashi asks talking into a little mic.

"Yeah" the others who went to take care of the talismans said.

"Alright now!"

They all pulled at the same time and the barrier was taken down but something else was happening.

"Ok let's go we have to leave this to the others" Kakashi says as they leave the jounin to take care of it.

Once they got inside however it was like a big maze. There were different paths that you could take.

"Ok what's this a trick?" Sasuke says angrily clenching his hands into fists "we don't have time for this"

"That's the exact point of this Sasuke to stop us from getting there right away" Sakura says starting to sweat a little.

Neji started shaking with anger as his eyes turned normal again.

"My Byakugan doesn't work in here…."

"Well so much for that" Sasuke says.

"Looks like we're going to have to split up from here everyone be careful" Kakashi says and they all nod as they each take a different way.

The Akatsuki leader had noticed that they had entered already and had motioned for Sasori and Deidara to leave their posts and to wait for any one of them to show up.

"Take care of them as quick as you guys can I don't have time to deal with pests" he says as he concentrates on Naruto.

"Don't worry they'll be dead before they can even save their friend" Deidara says chuckling evilly.

Back at the sand village an old lady showed up at Gaara's office and Temari looked at her shocked.

"What are you doing here?"

"Never mind that where has that group from Konoha gone? I'm going after them"

Temari tells her where and without another word she leaves.

'They will need my help if they want to have any chance against my grandson' she says to herself as she hurriedly chases after the others.


	7. The Fight Begins

How Will I Know

How Will I Know

By: esmtz

Narrator POV

Watching as everyone went their own way Neji stood still for a few seconds before moving. As he was wondering the hallway his thoughts were on Naruto and wondering if he was ok.

"Stop it Neji Naruto is going to be fine" Neji says to himself as he was a little bit worried that he might not make it in time.

Neji opens all the doors he passes by but so far he finds nothing but empty rooms.

"I just hope nothing serious is going down right now because this is taking awhile" Neji growls as he closes the 5th door he's opened and walks on.

Suddenly kunai knives and shuriken fly right at him but he manages to deflect them all.

"A trap huh these guys are smarter than I thought…" Neji says as he looks on the ground to see a sunken portion of the ground that he stepped on.

Where Sakura was at she had already managed to escape from 3 traps without much trouble but was hurt a little bit with small cuts on her body.

"They wouldn't have set up traps like this if it wasn't important of what they were doing…." Sakura says frowning slightly "which means they're probably already…!"

Sakura starts running as she looks down corridor to corridor when suddenly the door to her right bursts open to reveal Gaara who was trying to catch his breath.

"Gaara?! What…?"

Gaara just looked at her.

"We have to hurry come on I know exactly where to go!" he says as he starts running with her closely behind.

Sasuke and Kakashi managed to take down 5 traps without a scratch on them as they hurriedly ran down their hallway.

"You certainly have gotten stronger Sasuke" Kakashi says as another trap activates and Kakashi and Sasuke manage to quickly take out the enemies.

"Well I have been training to take down Itachi…" Sasuke says "this would be a lot easier if I could use my sharingan…"

Kakashi just looks at him.

"From what I've seen Sasuke you don't need it right now is it because you're determined to get Naruto out of here?"

Sasuke doesn't respond as suddenly the ground gives way and Sasuke quickly grabs Kakashi's hand and yanks him toward the other side and quickly before falling manages to grab a hold of the wall.

"Sasuke quick grab my hand!" Kakashi says as he kneels down holding out his hand.

Sasuke grabs it and is yanked up.

"We better hurry" Sasuke says interrupting what Kakashi was about to say as he runs off.

Back with Neji he was having trouble with the enemies that he ran into.

"Give it up kid you can't win" they said.

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that…" Neji says gasping for breath from running and fighting too hard when suddenly sand appears and crushes the enemies and Gaara and Sakura appear.

"Oh there you are Neji come on Gaara knows where we need to go" Sakura says to a surprised Neji and he nods and follows after them.

"How did you guys find me?" Neji asks.

"I think it's because the hallways are somehow connected with each other" Sakura replies.

"That's because they are" Gaara says "trust me I know"

"Gaara how did you get away anyway?" Sakura asks.

"They said I was going to be dealt with last so they put me in a room but what they didn't know was that the first kid who was in there apparently had somehow broken part of the door that closes so I used my sand and unlocked the door from the outside" Gaara says.

"So it was just luck have you seen Naruto at all Gaara?" Neji asks him.

"What he's here too?!" Gaara said shocked "so he's the one that's supposed to go before me….they already took care of one of the other two so that must mean…"

"Naruto isn't dead" Neji hisses as Gaara stops.

"What is it?" Sakura asks.

"This is the entrance to where the Akatsuki is working but they have it blocked off…" Gaara says frowning.

"Don't worry I'll handle it" Sakura clenches her right hand into a fist "stand back guys"

Both guys move behind her as she slams her fist into the wall and the whole thing falls apart and they see the scene ahead of them: the Akatsuki were working on Naruto and two of them were already waiting for them.

"NARUTO!" Neji screams as he starts running.

"Wait you idiot!" Gaara says.

Neji was suddenly sent flying off his feet by Sasori's puppet tail and he lands on the ground.

"I'm afraid you'll need to go through us first kids" Deidara says smirking.

"So that's where the other jinchuuriki went I told you we shouldn't have let him out of our sights Deidara" Sasori says glaring at him.

"Oh please he's low on charka we can take these kids" Deidara replies.

"Oh really?"

There was a blast from the other side of the entrance that Sakura, Gaara and Neji came from and out comes Kakashi and Sasuke.

"About time guys!" Sakura yells.

"I'll take these two the rest of you stop the others" Kakashi says sweating a little.

"But Kakashi sensei you're outnumbered!" Sakura says.

"Not anymore he isn't" a voice suddenly said as everybody turned and looked at where it was coming from.

"Granny Chiyo…" Sasori said growling slightly.

"Sasori" she replied as she goes and stands next to Kakashi "I'll take my grandson Sasori you can take his partner" she tells Kakashi.

"Alright" Kakashi says.

They both rush towards Deidara and Sasori. Sasuke approaches Sakura and the others at the same time that Itachi comes down from his spot and is facing them.

"Looks like we're facing Itachi…" Sakura says as she looks at the others but notices that both Sasuke's and Neji's eyes were glued on Naruto's unconscious form "GUYS!"

"We heard you the first time Sakura" Sasuke says turning to her then turning back and facing Itachi "lets just gets this over with quickly"

"You guys have no chance of beating me" Itachi says suddenly behind them "how can a jinchuuriki low on charka and two boys who can't even use their real powers and a girl who really needs to be more on the defense than the attack be able to stand up to me?"

"Oh trust me brother you haven't seen what I can do when im pissed off…" Sasuke says glaring at him "ready guys lets do this for Naruto"

"YEAH!"


	8. Sasuke's Confession

How Will I Know

How Will I Know

By: esmtz

Narrator POV

As the fight raged on it seemed hopeless to beat these guys without the power of the Sharingan or the Byakugan. Sakura was forced to help out a little but still had to be on the defense in case her team mates needed help.

"There's no way we can beat these guys this way!" Neji says as he deflects an attack from Itachi.

Sasuke quickly used his fire ball jutsu to try to get Itachi's attention but instead Itachi easily avoided it and headed straight for Gaara easily taking him out before Gaara could even bring out his attack. Sakura ran over to him and started healing him while Neji and Sasuke distracted Itachi.

"You're right we need to focus on Naruto not these guys!" Sasuke replies as he does his phoenix flower jutsu and manages to hit Itachi.

"You guys keep fighting him im going to go get Naruto!" Sakura yells as she drags Gaara to the side and starts running towards the other Akatsuki members.

"I don't think so" Itachi says as he is suddenly right in front of her.

"SAKURA!" a voice rang out and Sakura turned and saw that Lee and the others showed up as he headed straight for Itachi "leaf hurricane!" Lee yelled as he attacked Itachi.

"Go Sakura we got this covered" Sasuke says as Gai and the jounin leaders go and help Kakashi and Chiyo.

Sakura nods as she turns to Tenten.

"Tenten im going to need your help"

"Ok Sakura lets move!"

Both Kunoichi move as fast as they can dodging the attacks that were headed their way.

"I think I know of a way to stop these guys see that giant hand and all those people on it well I can see from here that they're nothing but visions if we can destroy that hand I think we can do it" Sakura says.

"But couldn't you do that yourself Sakura? What do you need me for?" Tenten asks.

"If any attacks head my way you are to deflect them as well as to catch Naruto I'm not gonna be able to after smashing that rock to pieces" Sakura responds as they stop right in front of the rock and Sakura clenches her right hand into a fist "ready?"

"Ready" Tenten says ready to make a move for Naruto.

"Ok now!" Sakura was about to hit her mark when suddenly something slammed into her knocking her out.

"SAKURA!" Tenten screamed making Lee look and start running but was sent flying from being caught off guard by Itachi.

"Looks like it's up to us Uchiha" Neji says looking at Sasuke and he nods.

"Let's do this Hyuga" Sasuke replies and both boys make a run for it as Itachi gets in their way again.

"Chidori!" Sasuke yells as he readies it and keeps running and slams it into Itachi making him fall to the ground and without bothering to check if Itachi was dead or not kept on running with Chidori still ready for another blow as Sasuke uses the rest of the energy to smash the giant hand into pieces as the people on it vanish and Naruto falls as Tenten rushes to catch him and then gently lowers him to the ground.

"NARUTO!" Sasuke ands Neji yell at the same time as they both rush over to him but Sasuke gets there first and holds Naruto in his arms.

Lee rushed over to where Sakura was at and at the same time both Sasori and Deidara escape before Chiyo, Gai or Kakashi could deal the final blow.

"Cowards how dare they escape before we can beat them!" Gai says angrily clenching his hand into a fist holding it in front of him.

"Easy now Gai this only means that we have another chance to take them down" Kakashi sighs as he lays his hand on Gai's shoulder.

"You're right Kakashi" Gai says looking at him and grinning.

"If you guys happen to run into my grandson again you better let me know" Chiyo says as she vanishes.

There was an agonizing scream making Gai and Kakashi turn to look at the small group near Naruto and Sasuke. Sasuke was crying and hugging Naruto close to him.

"He…he's not breathing!" Sasuke could barely get that out as he looks at everyone else and everyone was shocked.

Neji was completely white as he fell to his knees and just stared at his crush in Sasuke's arms as he saw Sasuke lay him on the ground and started CPR.

"Naruto don't you do this to me….wake up dammit…." Sasuke says in between breaths "im not going to just sit here and let you die loser wake up please!" he begged as he kept this up but still no response "the reason why I came back Naruto was because of you….I wanted to tell you how much you meant to me….you were my very first friend and ever since then I fell in love with you….I love you Naruto" Sasuke choked on a sob as tears kept falling down his face as he tried once again to get Naruto breathing.

Neji looked pissed and devastated that it wasn't him who was doing and saying this to Naruto but he knew that he couldn't be jealous right now as he sat there watching as Sasuke tried to revive him. After a few more tries however Sasuke sat back and held Naruto in his arms again.

"Come back….Naruto…..please come back…..I need you…." Sasuke said completely devastated as his body shook from grief as he leaned down and kissed Naruto on his forehead.

Everyone started crying as Kakashi and Gai came up to Sasuke and Kakashi put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

"Sasuke its time to go" Kakashi said sadly but Sasuke just shook his head.

"No…."

"Sasuke…"

"NO IM NOT LEAVING!" Sasuke screamed as he turned his head to face Kakashi glaring at him.

"You can't just stay here Sasuke we have to go"

"WELL THEN GO I'M NOT LEAVING!"

Sasuke's screaming woke up Sakura as she started waking up in Lee's arms.

"Lee…what's going on?" Sakura asked and he looked at her sadly.

"It's Naruto…." Lee says looking over at him.

"Naruto?" Sakura looks over her shoulder at him and starts tearing up "oh no…" Sakura started crying as Lee tried to comfort her as he helped her to her feet.

Both Kakashi and Gai were forced to pry Sasuke away from Naruto and they started leading him towards the exit as he screamed at them telling them to let him go as well as calling out Naruto's name. Neji was just as bad as the jounin leaders and Tenten grabbed a hold of him and led him out also screaming at them. Gaara was awake by now and Kakashi told him to go get Naruto and he nods and vanishes. Sasuke and Neji were hysterical now still trying to fight off Kakashi and the others.

"What are you guys going to do you aren't going to….b-bury him are you?!" Neji yells and Sasuke turns white.

No one says a thing after that as they kept on walking.

"Hey guys aren't you forgetting someone?" a voice said making both Sasuke and Neji turn around and see that Gaara was helping Naruto walk who was grinning at them.

"Naruto…." Neji says as he breaks free and runs toward him and hugs him tightly.

"Ow Neji im still hurting a bit here" Naruto says wincing a little but he was blushing.

Without saying anything Sasuke also breaks free and runs and hugs him as well.

"Naruto…don't you scare us like that again!" Sasuke said as Neji glares at him and he glares back.

Naruto looks from one to the other and blushes like mad.

"The both of you were worried about me?"

"More like scared to death Naruto" Neji says.

Tears were starting to form in Naruto's eyes a little as he smiled at them.

"Thanks for coming to help me"

"Well what were we supposed to do leave you there? I don't think so loser!" Sasuke grins "it's ok Gaara I got it from here" Sasuke says as he gets Naruto from him.

All the way back home Naruto noticed that Neji and Sasuke were glaring daggers at each other making him blush even more as he thought to himself about who he was going to choose when they got back home.


	9. NaruNeji Ending

How Will I Know

How Will I Know

By: esmtz

Naruto POV

Few days after returning home I ended up asking Neji to go out with me. Sasuke was completely shocked that I chose Neji over him but hey he'll get over it…I think. Neji and I happily celebrated as we sat down at the Ichiraku noodle shop and ordered some ramen.

"The look on Uchiha's face…priceless!" Neji laughs as he kisses me and I kissed back blushing and grinning.

"Totally though I still cant believe he's still here…" I turn and look behind me to see Sasuke hiding glaring at us and I sigh.

"I don't see how you managed to put up with him before he's really annoying" Neji replies gritting his teeth.

I look back at Neji.

"Yeah well you won't have to worry about him after he leaves again" I said.

"Naruto didn't you know Sasuke's staying?" a voice said behind me and I turn and see Sakura and Lee holding hands.

"What do you mean he's staying?!" Neji says alarmed.

"It's just like Sakura said he is staying" Lee said as he smiles and kisses his girlfriend's cheek.

"Sasuke told me when we got back that he wasn't gonna leave he said he was going to stay here in Konoha and move back into his old place" Sakura replied giggling as Lee kissed her.

I blushed a little at that but Neji was totally furious and I sweat drop a little.

"Neji calm down im with you remember not him there's no need to get mad" I said as I kissed him and watched as our food was set in front of us.

Neji kissed back and sighed.

"Yeah you're right Naruto…"

I watch as Sakura and Lee take seats next to me.

"Have you guys seen Gai sensei anywhere?" Lee asks and I shake my head.

"He's probably out somewhere making love to Kakashi" Neji replies making me turn red as I start on my food.

"That's a nice way to put it Neji" Sakura said sarcastically as she and Lee place their orders.

"Well we all know its true" Neji says as he starts eating.

"Yeah we all know that Neji" I said.

After eating my fifth bowl I decided to stop and I looked over at Neji and grinned and he looks back at me.

"What Naruto?"

I whisper in his ear and his face turns a very bright red.

"Not right now Naruto we're in public!"

Lee, Sakura and I laugh.

"Not right now Neji back at my place" I responded.

"…fine…." He says embarrassed.

"So are you done with that yet?" I nodded toward his bowl and he nods.

"Yeah im finished"

"Ok then" gets out my money and pays for the both of us then I turn to Sakura and Lee "See ya guys" me and Neji stand up.

"Ok bye Naruto bye Neji" Sakura said smirking a little at us and then I watch as Lee and her kiss and then we walk away holding hands.

I could feel Sasuke's glare right at our backs and I shudder a little making Neji look at me.

"What Naruto?"

"I don't think Sasuke is going to stop following us" I blush really hard and Neji looks behind us glaring at him.

"Yeah well if he really liked you he wouldn't have bothered leaving in the first place in other words he deserved this"

I sweat dropped as I looked at Neji but I didn't say anything about that as we headed to my place.

"So does your family know about us Neji?" I ask and he shakes his head.

"No but I'll tell them after we have been together for awhile and I told Hinata not to tell anyone either" he responds.

"So Hinata knows? Who else?" I looked at him and he looks at me.

"Pretty much both our teams plus Shikamaru's and Hinata's and the people looking at us well they don't count they probably think of us as bad people or something but who cares what they think when I have you" Neji smiles as he stops and kisses me and I kiss him back grinning.

"Yeah who cares about them" I said as we go in for another kiss "ok if we want to do this more seriously let's get moving"

"Yeah let's go" Neji chuckles as we both start walking again to my place.

As soon as we got there I unlocked the door and opened it and I looked at Neji and smiled.

"I love you Neji Hyuga"

"I love you too Naruto Uzumaki" Neji replied smiling and we both enter and I shut the door behind me.

The End (Part 1)


	10. NaruSasu Ending

How Will I Know

How Will I Know

By: esmtz

Naruto POV

It had been a few days since we got home but the moment we had Sasuke came right up to me and asked me out. Of course I said yes leaving Neji standing there totally stunned and hurt and now we were officially a couple as we walked along side Sakura and Lee who also a couple as Lee kissed Sakura making her giggle.

"You guys sure seem happy" Sasuke grins at them.

"Well of course we are Sasuke otherwise we wouldn't be like this" Sakura says looking at him and turning and kissing Lee back.

"You and Naruto also seem pretty happy too Sasuke" Lee says as I look at Sasuke and he looks at me smiling.

"I know I am" Sasuke grins as he leans in and kisses me and I kiss back.

"Me too I'm very happy" I reply blushing.

"It's too bad Neji isn't but im pretty sure he'll be fine" Lee sighs "he's been sulking and yelling at the rest of us ever since we came back"

"You mean the rest of your team Lee?" I asked and he nods.

"I don't know maybe Tenten can find a way to calm him down" Lee says as we head on over to the hot spring and Sakura goes over to the girls area to change as Lee, Sasuke and I head to the boys.

"You really think Tenten can help? I ask.

"I'm surprised he hasn't followed Naruto and me at all" Sasuke says with a slight growl to his voice as he starts to undress making me blush.

"Well Gai sensei already knew about the situation so he's watching over Neji for awhile" Lee says as he too starts undressing.

I listen to their conversation as I get undressed leaving all my clothes next to Sasuke's except for my boxers as I head out to the hot spring but not before Sasuke wraps his arms around my waist and kisses my cheek.

"See you in the water" he says grinning and jumps in.

"Sasuke you did that on purpose just to get in before me!" I yell as I jump in with Lee following behind me.

Sakura was already in the water swimming around waiting for us as she spots us and comes over to us.

"About time guys" she says.

"Sorry Sakura I was trying to make an entrance" Lee says making her giggle.

"Of course Lee" She kisses him and they both go to the other side of the spring leaving Sasuke and I where we were at.

I turn to face Sasuke when suddenly water is splashed on to my face.

"Sasuke!" I yell wiping my face and I go and chase after him trying to throw water back at him.

"Doesn't seem like you can catch up loser!" Sasuke yells back and I swim faster and manage to grab his arm.

"Oh yeah Sasuke?" I grin.

We play around with each other for awhile before I go under the water without him knowing. I watch as he turns looking for me when I come up and splash a lot of water on him.

"Gotcha!" I laugh.

"Yeah you did Naruto" he grins wiping his face and looking at me as he comes over and wraps his arms around me "Naruto I just wanted to tell you that im not going anywhere ever again. I made that mistake before and it won't happen again alright?"

I nod.

"Don't worry about it Sasuke im just glad you came back home"

Sasuke smiles at me.

"Thanks I didn't know if you were willing to forgive me for leaving and for what I almost did to you" he says sadly.

"Sasuke how could I not forgive you? You were always my best friend and now my boyfriend I'll always forgive you…unless you cheat on me" I said seriously and then he kisses me.

"Naruto there's no one else I would rather be with then you" he says making me blush.

"Really Sasuke?"

"Really Naruto….I love you"

"I love you too Sasuke" I responded as we kissed again "I don't want you to leave me I couldn't take it the first time"

"Don't worry Naruto this time will be different especially now that I have you….loser" he laughs as I hit him a little.

"Stop calling me that Sasuke"

"Sorry but that's always going to be my nickname for you" he continues laughing as I chase him around the spring.

The End (Part 2)


End file.
